Week5 Discussion One Student Response

TuesdayMay 29 at 1:12pm

Manage Discussion Entry

Though in many circumstances a reporter should investigate the ins and outs of a story, and for the piece, there is the primary source, the background of the situation, and the documents to consider. However, for a public figure that is rumored to have raped a young girl and other sexual assault allegations against other women is severe and relevant crimes and must be investigated. Sometimes the victim would likely contact the reporter or the newspaper and tell their side of the story. Houston (2009) revealed “only local newspapers have investigations that uncover misdeeds by businesspeople or public officials. A reporter would then further investigate and make public announcements and concerns for his or her fellow citizens. The rule, if any to determine if I would expose private behavior is that I would “allow them to respond to criticism or allegations of wrongdoing” (Ethnics). Finding evidence of any criminal acts that a public figure commits is vital to an investigation.

I read up on some information in the previous course where there was a former actor, and now a mayor and the victim came to the newspaper years later claiming that he raped her and the public figure sued for defamation. One thing about that circumstance is that a public figure can sue if there is proof that it is not true. Therefore, a public figure job aired out even if they demand privacy or not. If allegations are flooding the street about sex crimes, then it is now an investigation to consider. Imagine there are a lot of public figures out there still smiling and acting as if they will never get caught, but investigative reporters are ten steps ahead.

Tolanda

References

Ethics (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.. Society of Professional Journalists. Retrieved from http://www.spj.org/ethics.asp (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

Houston, B. (2009). The investigative reporter’s handbook: A guide to documents, databases and techniques (5th). Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin